Let us read from Luke 13:7-9 6 And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. 7 And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; 9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’
We see from this passage, the man is God, the vineyard keeper is Jesus and the tree is our life, planted in the Church, the Vineyard. God came to the garden, the first year, expecting some fruits from our life, my life. But he could not find a single fruit. The second year, God came to visit the garden, expecting fruits, but second year also, He could not find even a single fruit. And third year also, we read He could not find a single fruit. And finally, God decided, “cut it down!”. But here we see our advocate, Jesus interceding for us here. And we see Jesus saying, “And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer” God reminds us from Romans 11:22 “ Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.”
Here, we can see God’s kindness and severity. God has extended one more year in our life. For what? God has given an opportunity for us to repent. Having repentance and to produce much fruit from our lives to glorify God. God is kind to us. His loving kindness leads us to our repentance and His severity is the judgment. We see in Matthew 3:10 “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” We are still alive because of His mercy and His kindness. God has given us, one more year, one more opportunity, expecting that we will bear much fruits for Him.
In Matthew 3:8, “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” True repentance produces fruits in our life. God is saying that our repentance should not limit only in our words but it should produce fruits in our life. We know that the foundation of our Christian life is the Repentance. In the New Testament, it is beginning with the preaching of John the Baptist about the repentance. In the end of the Bible, we see in Revelation, the Holy Spirit says to all the five Churches. The common message to the five Churches is that, “Repent!” and “turn to God, with a repentant heart”. Today also, God is speaking to our hearts, “Repent! and come to God with a repentant heart! and produce much fruit in our life for His glory!
We see in Revelation 2:21, “I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.” We see God’s judgement here. God has given us an opportunity in our life to repent and come to God and produce much fruit for His glory. It is because of His kindness and mercy, we are alive. See His kindness and severity. In Amos, we read, how God is dealing with the Israelites. Amos 4:6 – 12, 6 “But I gave you also cleanness of teeth in all your cities And lack of bread in all your places, Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord. 7 “Furthermore, I withheld the rain from you While there were still three months until harvest.
Then I would send rain on one city And on another city I would not send rain; One part would be rained on, While the part not rained on would dry up. 8 “So two or three cities would stagger to another city to drink water, But would not be satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord. 9 “I smote you with scorching wind and mildew; And the caterpillar was devouring Your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees and olive trees; Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord. 10 “I sent a plague among you after the manner of Egypt; I slew your young men by the sword along with your captured horses, And I made the stench of your camp rise up in your nostrils; Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord. 11 “I overthrew you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze; Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord. 12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; Because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.” We see here that, God is dealing with Israelite people in many ways. But they have not returned to God. Finally, in V12, we read, therefore, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.
Amos 7:7,8 “ Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. 8 The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold I am about to put a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel. I will spare them no longer.” When God put a plumb line in the final day, there should not be any bulging or any misalignment in our life. We have to keep a plumb line daily in our life so that we are able to stand boldly before God. When we see any bulging or any misalignment, come before God with true repentance and to get corrected by the power of God.
We see in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” We see that God chose us and appointed in this Vineyard, Church for us to bear much fruits for Him. Isaiah 5:2 “He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it and also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones.” Here we can see; our God did everything for the tree to bear good fruits but unfortunately it only produced worthless ones. God has done everything for us to bear much fruits for Him. His grace is available and He has blessed us. He expected that we bear good fruits from our life but are we producing good fruits or the worthless ones?
God says in John 15:8, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” We see here, we have to prove to be the disciples of Jesus. How? By bearing good fruits. We can glorify God. God is not happy with the few fruits in our lives. God is expecting much fruit in our lives. God is glorified when we bear much fruit in our lives. How can we bear much fruits for Him? We need to die to our self-will, and then only we can bear much fruit for God.
John 12:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” When we die to our self-will, we produce much fruit. When we don’t die, we don’t produce much fruit. Our problem is, our outer shell is so strong. God wants this needs to be broken. Then only it will die and will bear much fruit. In my life, in many life situations, God is showing me my self- will is not dead. God is saying that we should die daily in our Christian life in order to bear much fruit, so that God’s name be glorified. Only through brokenness, we can bear much fruit in our life. Without brokenness, without breaking this outer shell, we cannot bear much fruit. Let us come to God asking, what are the areas that we need to be broken? In different situations, when we are dealing with others or in our own life, we see that our shell needs to be broken. Be broken so we can bear much fruit for His glory. Let us take this Word seriously. But how is this possible in our life?
We see in Luke 1, “ 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” It is possible only by the Holy Spirit we can bear much fruit for the glory of God. God is assuring us that nothing is impossible with God. Let us ask God’s power to help us to glorify God, bearing much fruit. Let us come back to Luke 13:8, “And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer.”
We have experienced many blessings. God has given everything in our lives to bear much fruit and God has given many opportunities, blessings. His grace is available. Only thing is, we have to bear much fruit to glorify God. May God help us to be a good tree. The Bible says, the only way to know if a tree is good or bad is by its fruit. God is expecting much fruit from our lives. May God help us to be a good tree, planted in the Church bearing much fruit, so that we can glorify God. This is God’s will for us.
In Psalms 139:23, 24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.” Let us have this prayer in our heart. Lord search me and show me what I am lacking. We see in Revelation, the Holy Spirit is saying to the five churches the specific things that they are lacking and what is their real condition. The Holy Spirit says to them that they should come back with repentance. Return to me and I will restore you. Let us ask God, ‘search our hearts and show us what are the areas that I am grieving you, Lord. Show me what I am lacking Lord and show me the areas this self is rising again and again’. Let us have this prayer and ask God. God is assuring us that He has extended another year in our lives, expecting that we bear much fruits to glorify God in our lives. May God bless us.
